Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY

Overview

Ithaca College decided to implement the CAP grant through a series of Teach, Initiate, Advocate! Talks. TIA Talks were workshops for college student women on topics such as professional confidence, bargaining, discrimination, financial literacy, and salary negotiation skills.

Description

The TIA Talks presentations were recorded by a team of students, so that they could be shared with students unable to attend the live sessions – the format is similar to the TED Talks format. The series was introduced at the college’s MLK Day celebration via a social justice workshop, and was advertised heavily using the campus news share system, social media, websites, direct contacts, and an electronic poster campaign. During one week in late February, some of Ithaca College’s most knowledgeable and inspirational speakers around the issue of gender equity presented a short workshop to change attitudes and inspire action among students interested in eliminating the gender pay gap.

Downloadable materials include:

Other materials:

In March, the team sponsored the Women in Leadership Experience in Seneca Falls, NY – where a panel of speakers talked about the gender pay gap and how to become an activist on the topic. The retreat offered a tradition of networking and focusing on engaging dialogue among the participants, exploring the perceptions of progress for women, including a look at challenges that different generations have faced.

In April, Ithaca College hosted a TIA Time dinner to celebrate the energy and awareness that had been raised on campus during the semester. Students, faculty, and staff members watched clips from each of the TIA Talks, and then discussed this important topic to inspire future action. Ithaca College President Emerita and AAUW board member Peggy Ryan Williams shared inspirational remarks at the event. The talks are now available online.

Primary sources of publicity were announcements on Intercom, Ithaca College’s electronic message system, that sends out postings to the entire college community three times each week. Articles about the TIA Talks were featured in The Ithacan, the weekly campus newspaper. Peer Career Advisors created Facebook events for each TIA Talk and the TIA Time dinner, which helped with promotion.

TIA Talks

Professional Confidence: Behaviors for Success
Heather Lane, Lecturer in the School of Business and founder of the Visiting Entrepreneurs Series